3 ms·
You can easily find a rebuttal. Why do you think that consciousness is like rain and not like, say, arithmetic?
by red75prime 5mo ago
You can easily find a rebuttal. Why do you think that consciousness is like rain and not like, say, arithmetic?
- slopinthebag 5mo agoSorry, how is arithmetic different?
- Joker_vD 5mo agoBecause computers don't actually do arithmetic, they simulate it. When you take 2 sticks, add 2 sticks, and obtain 4 sticks, that's arithmetic. Having a raised flag with one lowered flag to the right and the left of it and then changing this configuration to having a single raised flag with two lowered flags right to it, and interpreting this charade as having added 2 to 2 and obtained 4 — that's just a simulation. It didn't actually have added 2 and 2 of anything.
- slopinthebag 5mo agoWell, if I write "2 + 2 = 4" on a piece of paper, am I doing arithmetic, or merely simulating it? After all, there are no sticks involved. But I'm also willing to accept that a computer is simulating arithmetic, and not actually doing it. That makes no difference to me, as long as the output is the same. In fact it's kind of a boring distinction to make.
- Joker_vD 5mo agoSo just the same, it shouldn't make a difference if LLMs simulate "human-like attributes" or actually possess them, right?
- slopinthebag 5mo agoThat depends on the question. If the question is “are LLMs conscious” it would matter a lot actually.